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Libraries & Campus Resources

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Columbia University Libraries is one of the top five academic research libraries in North America. The collections include over 13 million volumes and 160,000 journals and serials in addition to extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, microforms, maps, and graphic and audio-visual materials. The Libraries employs more than 400 staff members and hosts over 4.7 million visitors each year.

SIPA students enjoy access to two dozen Columbia and affiliated libraries and associated centers—including Lehman Social Sciences Library in the International Affairs Building. Lehman Libary supports the research and teaching needs of the School of International and Public Affairs and selected academic departments. The facility was renovated in 2007 to add study space and contemporary technology learning tools, rendering it all but unrecognizable to students of previous eras. Read about Lehman Social Sciences Library.

E-Resources

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)

Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is the most comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs.

CIAO is also widely-recognized source for teaching materials including original case studies written by leading international affairs experts, course packs of background readings for history and political science classes, and special features like the analysis of a bin Laden recruitment tape with video.

Columbia University Spatial Data Catalog

The CU Spatial Data Catalog is a joint effort by the Columbia University Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Working Group who maintain and contribute data, creating easier access to geospatial data for the Columbia University community.

Economist Intelligence Unit

The Economist Intelligence Unit helps business leaders prepare for opportunity, empowering them to act with confidence when making strategic decisions.

Success when operating internationally means understanding how tomorrow will differ from today. From such insight comes opportunity. Our forecasting and advisory services have informed entrepreneurs, financiers and government figures around the world since 1946. Our coherent and impartial assessment of the future can be depended on to deliver the insight needed to succeed in a complex and changing world.

Located in Lehman Hall on the Barnard campus, the Barnard College Library contains approximately 6,000 reference books, primarily in the social sciences and the humanities. Reference librarians are available during daytime, evening and weekend hours to provide assistance in finding information through printed and electronic sources.

Located on the campus of Union Theological Seminary, the Burke Library is the largest theological library in the western hemisphere, containing rich collections for theological study and research. With holdings of over 700,000 items, the Library is recognized as one of the premier libraries in its field and includes extensive holdings of unique and special materials.

Located in Uris Hall, the Watson Library of Business and Economics houses one of the largest collections in the U.S. for the study of management, finance, economics, industry and related fields. The library's collection reflects an emphasis on the economics of developed and developing nations, international business conditions and practices, global trade, emerging markets and international securities trading.

Butler Library houses 2 million volumes which comprise the University's collections in the humanities, with particular strengths in history, government documents, social sciences, literature, philosophy and religion. The building also houses numerous service points, including the Libraries Information Office , the Rare Book & Manuscripts Library , and the Milstein Undergraduate Library .

CHRDR supports the community of teachers, researchers, students, and law and social justice advocates working in the multidisciplinary sphere of Human Rights, through collections, services and public programs, and is the official repository for the archives of major Human Rights organizations including Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Watch and others.

Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is the most comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs. CIAO is also widely-recognized source for teaching materials including original case studies written by leading international affairs experts, course packs of background readings for history and political science classes, and special features like the analysis of a bin Laden recruitment tape with video.

Located in Butler Library, the Columbia Center for Oral History is the oldest and largest organized oral history program in the world. Founded in 1948 by Pulitzer Prize winning historian Allan Nevins, the oral history collection now contains nearly 8,000 taped memoirs, and nearly 1,000,000 pages of transcript. These memoirs include interviews with a wide variety of historical figures.

Located in Butler Library on the 6th Floor, within the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the University Archives contains historical records, published materials, and objects relating to the history of Columbia University, 1754 to the present.

The CU Spatial Data Catalog is a joint effort by the Columbia University Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Working Group who maintain and contribute data, creating easier access to geospatial data for the Columbia University community.